by Anonyuo Anselem
I once heard that giving up is a weak act, meaning we all have to try over and over again when we fail. My convictions were based on the principle; “when there is life, there is hope”.
According to Donald Trump, “sometimes by losing a battle you find a new way to win the war”. Richard Branson made it clear when he said, “one shouldn’t be embarrassed by one’s failure rather one should learn from it and try again”.
Now how do you learn from a failure; how do you not feel embarrassed by failure, especially when people around you tend to tag you and treat you like a pariah?
At the end of my second college year, I began to wonder whether all these success quotes I just talked about above, had changed overnight. School has evolved from a place where lecturers help shape students into better individuals, to a place where lecturers are now “Destiny killers”. They look at you and promptly decide – like some unbidden oracle – whether you would make it in life or not. If we were all perfect, I don’t think we’d need school.
University lecturers treat carry-over students like scum. I’m not surprised when I hear about students committing suicide because they did badly in an exam. These days, lecturers carry on like they’re perfect. They act like they were genius during their university days; even when their school records show they weren’t. The norm before now was encouragement, when somebody fails, you call the person (that’s if you are in the position to do so), and tell him where he/she got it wrong. You then give some words of encouragement to him/her. But NO, many lecturers can’t be bothered to descend so low – they’d rather tell their students off.
Sometime last semester when I had to take a test, carry-over students were literally made “outcasts”. They were asked to sit at the back of the class; they were constantly barked at for the slightest mistakes. And I can swear that they felt bad. Some Lecturers should know that their bad attitude towards people can kill the confidence that was once budding in them.
Abraham Lincoln failed many times before becoming the 16th president of the United States of America. Thomas Edison tried his experiment so many times before he came up with the “Light Bulb”. Show me a great man whose life history is smooth and I’d show you a big fat liar! Nothing good comes easy.
In summary; yes students are ultimately the architects of their successes or failures, but that’s the whole point! Lecturers, should learn to do the job of shepherding like they’re supposed to. Reprimand us if need be but don’t forget to give us the much-needed assurance that we can make it. Let’s help people grow and not help keep them down.
Like Ellen De Generes said, “sometimes, it’s failure that gives you the proper perspective on success” And of course – the phoenix must burn to emerge!
——————————–
Anonyuo Satchmo Anselem is a budding seasoned writer and he communicates via:
Twitter: @kellySATchy
Yeah, Mr. Anselm. I agree with you. Some teachers, or is it CHEATERS? join the lecturing profession out of desperation! They want to keep body and soul together at all cost, but not because they have interest in passing on the ‘good knowledge’. They claim to know everything when in actual fact, they did know nothing or very little. they are the chunk we have in our schools especially in our great Nnaija!! May God help us!